When I was in jazz band in high school, our first assignment was to listen to a CD that our conductor gave us. No scales, no arrangements, no chord progressions, just listening. This became a frequent theme in jazz band, having listening assignments. I didn’t listen nearly enough and while I understood the chord progressions and melodies of jazz, I didn’t listen to enough jazz to really feel it and understand it.

Fortunately I’m much less stubborn now and I take every opportunity I can to listen. Even though I want to pick up my guitar and try to figure out the song I’m listening to, I hold myself back now and listen. Just listen. Fully listen.

From being in bands I’ve realized that the most beautiful moments come when everyone is listening. Not when everyone’s playing. From truly un-distracted listening you will gain the skills to understand what gives a song it’s particular sound, or how all the instruments blend together and how all the parts work up to make the whole.

So next time you want to learn a song, or learn something from one of the greats, put down the guitar and just listen.

Lately I’ve been doing an exercise in ear training while playing guitar and it’s really improved my listening and lead guitar playing ability. I’ve been listening to songs that I’m familiar with while playing the vocal melodies on the guitar.

Start with something easy. “Get up stand up” by Bob Marley or the chorus of Louie Louie by The Kingsmen could be a good place to start…or pick a song that you have stuck in your head already and can sing the melody to. If you’re a beginner or intermediate guitar player, practice finding a few notes and pausing the track to find them and play slowly. Don’t worry if you hit the wrong notes; that’ll happen A LOT in the beginning and improve over time. Keep trying and find fun songs that you want to practice with.